The Life Of Roald Dahl

The life and times of the one-of-a-kind children’s writer.

Children’s storyteller Roald Dahl was as dark and fabulous as they come.

His enormously popular books – “The BFG,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and many more – have been read to millions of children around the world.

But as every parent – and child – knows, these are not cute little stories. Horrible, peculiar, nasty things happen all the time. They happened to Roald Dahl, too.

Family dying. Planes crashing. He had charm, a big mean streak, and irresistible talent.

Today, we hear the story of the storyteller, Roald Dahl. And his daughter’s here.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:

Donald Sturrock, author of “Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl.” He is a former producer and director at the BBC Television’s Music and Arts Department, where he directed a biopic about Roald Dahl.  He was also artistic director of the Roald Dahl Foundation, where he created a library of new orchestral works and operas for children based on the stories of Roald Dahl.

Ophelia Dahl is the fourth of five children of Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal. She is co-founder and executive director of Partners in Health, which works to improve health in poor communities and has been especially active in Haiti.

Sam Anderson, book critic for New York Magazine. His article titled “Big Sometimes Friendly Giant: Roald Dahl - the storyteller as benevolent sadist,” was published earlier this month.